


I got a boy in Valentine

by MudkipBrony



Series: Persona Western AU [6]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Bandits & Outlaws, Chie protecc, Daisuke just trying to do his job, Established Relationship, F/M, Heart-to-Heart, Kou being a concerned boyfriend, No like the actual map of the landscape, Not Beta Read, Red Dead Redemption 2 Map, Tomoe is a horse, other characters not mentioned in tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MudkipBrony/pseuds/MudkipBrony
Summary: I got a boy in ValentineHe's so sweet and very niceAlways begging me to stayI wish I never had to go away.
Relationships: Ichijo Kou/Satonaka Chie
Series: Persona Western AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981138
Kudos: 1





	I got a boy in Valentine

Chie Satonaka, a 22-year-old outlaw who never seems to understand how she got here. Half of the time she's just trying to stay alive, and it wasn't even because of her bad habit of starting saloon fights. The wild west is a scary place. A dangerous place. With bears, cougars, and alligators trying to eat you, to mean people pretending to be hurt so they can steal your stuff! Though as Chie learned over the past six years, not everyone is bad.

Some people just needed help. Sometimes helping that poor man off the side of the road led Chie to look for one VERY specific plant on one EXTREMELY specific hill in a CERTAIN part of the state. But then again, Chie didn't mind. Helping people was the closest thing Chie could get to be in a lawman. And while Chie could have stayed at camp and trained today, she decided to give someone a visit.

As she rode into Valentine she wondered if he was working today. And if he was, should she wait until he was done with work? Well, there was only one way to check. The auction yard was basically behind the train station, which she just past. Chie slipped off Tomoe and hitched the horse to a hitching post near the entrance and walked in. This wasn't her first time in the auction yard, although she never bought anything, she delivered some (well she didn't want to say stolen, but that's exactly what it was) cattle and sheep from time to time. All the animals were in their pens, sheep to her left, cows to her right. The auctioneer was already at work trying to sell some goats. But the auctioneer wasn't who she was looking for.

She looked around, trying to see if he was here. She went by the horses to see if he was feeding them or leading them to the center of the yard, but he wasn't there. "Oh, hey Chie," came a voice.

Chie turned and smiled, even if this wasn't the person she was looking for either. "Hey Daisuke. Have you seen Kou?"

"He went home early today. Where have you been? Did you get his letters? Hey stop that." That last bit was directed to a goat eating the cloth on his pant leg.

"I didn't get any letters. We've been moving a lot lately," Chie explained.

"Alright enough you." Daisuke said to the goat, shaking his leg so the goat would let go. Then turned his attention back to Chie, "You should go see him, he's been sending them every other day."

"Alright I will, thanks Daisuke!" Chie didn't waste any time getting back to Tomoe. She practically leaped onto the saddle and started making her way to the estate. She wanted to go faster, have Tomoe go full gallop through the muddy streets. But Tomoe refused to move faster than a trot. _I guess that's fair, it would be weird if I just show up at Kou's door all muddy..._

She rode past the train station and around the auction yard, following the dirt path. She passed some homes and a small saloon, watching people move out of the way as she passed. And as the came by the intersection where main street ended (or began?) she just kept moving forward and veered right when the road split again. She could've kept going forward, the road converged either way. She didn't want to go past that asshole who ran the farm up there. So, she followed the path going up the hill passing the church and riding out of Valentine. _Just follow the path_ , Chie reminded herself, _you've done this thousands of times!_ But why did it feel so different this time? Was it because Kou was expecting her to show up? Would he be waiting for her right at the gate? _Don't think, feel_.

Chie continued to follow the road, leaving the town boarders, heading into the Heartlands and straddling the line of entering Cumberland Forest. Despite going kinda slow she was making great time until she had to move to the side as a carriage came speeding past. "Watch where you're-" but she didn't finish that sentence. Looking to her right she saw a wooden archway with a path and a sign. _Ichijo_ was all the sign said. How did she almost miss the entrance? She went up that path thousands of times, it was a steep hill though, she couldn't even see the tip of the house it was so high up. Though it wasn't all hill, the path part was the only solid ground that led up there, everything else was rock. _What was the word... plateau?_ Yeah, that was it, Kous family lived on a plateau for a reason Chie couldn't understand.

"Come on Tomoe, we'll use the back entrance." Chie steered Tomoe back onto the main road. Since the main entrance was so steep there was a back road for wagons and carriages.

It wasn't long before Chie found the back entrance, could it really be called a back entrance if it was like 200 feet (maybe more, Chie didn't know) from the main entrance? Regardless Tomoe made her accent, although this hill was definitely less extreme as the first one it was still a little too steep. Following the wagon tracks that marked the path Chie went up onto the plateau. As she kept following the path as it cut through a field, to the right there was a barn and the left a big fenced off field where some horses grazed. She made a quick double take to see if one horse in particular was there, but it was mostly just ones like Take-Mikazuchi, whatever horse breed it was called.

Finally she saw the estate, two buildings. There was the big house, Chie never went there, she made that mistake once. There were some trees around it, small ones, barley reached the top of the house. Then there was a smaller house a couple yards away from the big house, it looked like the big house just smaller. She rode Tomoe up to the smaller house and slipped off the mare. Giving the horse a quick pat on the next Chie walked up to the door, hesitating for a moment before knocking on the door. 

For a few seconds nothing happened. She could hear Tomoe breathing behind her, some birds squawking in the trees, and the bustle of the town bellow. But no Kou. _Shouldn't he be here? Daisuke said he left early. Did he go hunting or something? Should I look for-_

"Chie!"

Before the outlaw could turn she was enveloped into a hug. She almost kicked the poor feller in the nads, it was a natural reflex at this point. But Chie knew that voice, she recognized that smell. Mentally she yelled at herself for almost galactic punting her boyfriend. "Geez I almost hit you!"

"Sorry I was just-"

"N-no it's fine!" She cut him off, "so you wanted to see me?"

She felt him let go (she wished he didn't) and turned around to look at him. Of course, he was dressed all nice, in a white shirt, black pants and a gunslinger's belt. Well to Chie that was considered nice, considering most of her wardrobe was green vests.

"Did you get my letters?

Chie rubbed the back of her neck, a habit she picked up from one of the younger members. "No, I didn't. We've been moving a lot lately."

Chie could tell Kou wanted to say something about that. Probably something like him being worried about her being involved with outlaw stuff. Or him wishing the gang would move closer to Valentine so he could see her more often. If anything, Chie wanted to move further away from Valentine, not that she didn't want to be near Kou, but the closer the gang was to him the closer the danger was. But before Chie's mind could spiral into all the times she fought a guy in the muddy streets Kou spoke up, "I'm just glad you're alright."

"Duh, of course I'm alright. I wouldn't be here if I weren't," _Why did I say that? Crap I should apologize..._ "sorry. It's been a rough few days."

Kou just nodded sympathetically and the two went silent. They just stood there, the front door was right there, and his family didn't even know Chie was there. Or if they did no one stopped her. It almost seemed that everything became louder, a train was pulling into Valentine Station and let out a loud whistle causing the birds to get spooked and scatter everywhere. From up on the plateau everything seemed so small, Valentine has never looked so small, to Chie at least. She wondered if Kou or his family always thought the town was small.

"We haven't been this awkward around each other since we started dating," Kou said.

"Yeah, that's strange. It's not like you're going to run off the moment I open my mouth..." _What is with me today?_

"Chie I have to tell you something-"

 _Oh geez that's usually never a good thing._ In a panic Chie cut him off, "Get your horse, I wanna take you somewhere!" _Where the hell am I going to bring him?_

"Oh ok, I'll get Umisachihiko," Kou said. He turned and went behind his little shack.

Once she was sure he was gone Chie's thought made their way out of her mouth. "What are you doing? Where are you going to take him? A bar? No, he deserves better than that. Come on Satonaka... I got it!" Chie got back on Tomoe trying not to swing her legs back and forth too much in the stirrups. She hears a horse approaching and turns to see Kou riding Umisachihiko, his Tennessee Walker. It was a dark brown horse, but it had white legs and a few medium-sized white splotches on its body. "Ready to go?" Kou asks.

"Yeah!" She signaled for Tomoe to move and the two off them took off.

The two went right instead of left where the main paths were. There was more than one way off the plateau. So, they went right where the property was less kept than where the houses were. There were some stray boulders and trees that lead into a decent to a main road that led into Valentine, although there was a wooden fence separating the estate from the road. Chie put Tomoe into a full gallop down the hill and the horse leapt over the fence before Chie pulled back the reigns leading Tomoe to stop. Chie looked back up the hill to her delight to see Kou putting Umisachihiko into a full gallop as well and watched the horse leap over the fence.

It took them a moment to rearrange themselves, Umisachihiko needed to be calmed down after that jump. "Are you and Umisachihiko getting along?" Chie asked once the horse calmed down.

Kou gently patted the side of the horse's neck. "He's a real pain, but he's a good horse."

They followed the path down the rest of the hill (though it was starting to feel like a big hill or a small mountain), turning right with the path and going down some more hill. They approached some train tracks while following the path finally getting on level ground.

"We should move faster, or else it'll be dark when we get there."

* * *

In the heart of the Heartlands Chie lead Kou over some train tracks and into a heavily wooded area. "Where are we going?"

 _You're asking that now?_ "We're almost there." She told him.

Although the further they got into the woods, it didn't turn out to be very woodsy at all for there was a clearing hidden by all the trees. Chie got off Tomoe and Kou did the same with Umisachihiko. "It's just up here." She said, grabbing his hand and leading him to what she wanted him to see. There was a tree here or there, an old barrel one way, some old rope and a single plank of wood and they just past an old fire pit.

She led him down a little dip and- "Wow."

She chuckled. "Wow?"

The two of them were standing at the top of a cliff. Bellow there was more sparsely wooded area where a herd of wild horses were grazing. A river was coming around the bend before turning once more. There were more plateaus on the other side of the river, a cougar's cry could be heard from the woods that the plateaus held. And miles away you could see the snow atop mountains and-

"What happened there?" Kou asked, pointing to a burnt piece of land not too far down a hill a couple yards off. The ground was a dark grey, almost solid black. There were trees but they were charred, and their branches could barely hold themselves up if not life.

"I don't know, it was always like that, I guess. So, what do you think?"

He turned to her; she could swear there was an actual sparkle in his eye. "It's amazing, how did you find this place?"

"A friend of mine found it when they were hunting bears. There aren't any bears here if that's what you're thinking! Perfectly safe!" The last thing Chie wanted to do was have her boyfriend freak out over a non-existent bear. And she was careful to say 'they' and not 'he', she also didn't want Kou getting defensive because Master and Kido-san told her about this place.

He glanced out at the view and asked, "Was it one of your gang friends?"

* * *

The two had a long talk about... well, everything. Nothing. Just whatever came to mind really. They miss so much of each other's lives every day and even after dating for about five years they only have only a few days to spend with one another. They understood why things were the way they are. Kou, despite not being the heir, still had to learn everything about it in case something happened to his sister, God forbit it. And Chie was, well, an Outlaw. An Outlaw wanted in at least two states and was always at risk to be wanted in two more.

They sat near the edge of the cliff. Chie let her legs dangle off the side and Kou sat right next to her, ready to jump into action if she fell off or someone tried to rob them. She appreciated it, and _if_ someone tried to rob them well, that person would be dead before they could even try. And while Kou did have a gun on his belt Chie could shoot way faster and way better than he could. It was a sweet gesture that would never go into fruition, because Chie would never let it happen. She gave Kou that gun and belt so he could protect himself when she wasn't around. She hoped she never had to kill another man in front of him...

"Remember the time I asked to live with you guys?"

Oh god how could she forget? It was their first real _real_ argument. She remembers it going something like:

"What if I lived with you?"

"Uh you're kidding right?"

"No, I'm serious! Weren't you complaining about all the horses there was to take care of?"

"That was... what? A year and a half ago!"

"I pay attention. I'm just saying you can ask Narukami about it, didn't you say some people just stay at camp and do chores? That could be me! I can be the horse guy!"

"You barely get along with Umisachihiko."

"I'm... working on it! And it's not like I'll be riding them, just taking care of them!"

"No."

"Oh come on at least ask hi-"

"That's not why I'm saying no."

"Why not?"

"It's dumb..."

"It's not dumb if you're stopping me from being with you."

"I don't want to be without you."

"Then why are you stopping me?"

"Just shut up and kiss me."

 _Yeah, best save the rest of those memories for another time,_ she thought.

Then it hit her. "I'm still not letting you live with us."

Kou put his hands up defensively. "No! No, I already know not to ask anymore. I just thought it was... I don't know, amazing? Not amazing. Just how quick I would've given up everything to be closer to you." He shifted closer to her, whatever little distance there was between them was gone. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. She wondered if it felt weird to him, squeezing her shoulder. Kou didn't have overly big hands like Kanji or Shinjiro or Eikichi, but they were nice and fit on her shoulder well enough.

Although the squeeze was a little concerning. "Didn't you need to tell me something?"

"Crap, I almost forgot!" Kou exclaimed. He got up and removed his hand from Chie's shoulder, he took a few steps back and for a horrid moment Chie thought he was going to jump. She knew he was a reckless drunk but- "I got a job out west!"

"Woah really? That's awesome!" Chie got up and practically latched onto him, giving him a tight hug and lifting him up. She liked how he let her pick him up, he never complained about it once. She put him down but didn't let go, she could hear his heart beating through his shirt... she liked it, it reminded her that he was still here. Kou was still here, alive.

But when she let go of the hug Kou kept holding onto her a while longer. "Just another minute."

Though when he did finally let go he had a smile on his face, but it looked forced. _I don't like where this is going._ "There's going to be a 'but' isn't there..." She asked.

He looked down at the ground then back at Chie. "No, not necessarily. But I know you're not going to like it." 

The outlaw sighed, putting her fists on her hips. "Just say what you need to say."

"It's a good job, and I'll be able to help out my family like I wanted. Wait, you already knew that. Um, it's far though. It's not like I'll be in Armadillo or Tumbleweed. I'll be _west_ west. Where I'm moving to, the ocean will be only a few miles away."

"You're stalling."

"What I'm trying to say is that I want you to come with me," he said, "It will give you a shot to start over, get on the good side of the law. You can be a bounty hunter, like you always wanted!"

_Go with him..._

But he cut her off before she could even form the sentence. "I'm not asking you to marry me or anything! I just hope- _want_ you to come with me."

They stared at each other, eyes not leaving one another. Chie had to choose these words wisely, if she could even manage to explain what she wanted to say. "I-"

But Kou cut her off _again_ , "I just-"

"I know," it was her turn to cut _him_ off, "I know. You're so sweet, to think of me when this is your job and your opportunity. And I want to go with you, I really do. It's just..."

She stopped. She wasn't sure why she stopped. Kou's smile was still there, it wasn't so much of a forced smile now as it was a sad one. Like he had a sad joke but he wasn't sure if he wanted to say it, "I had a feeling there was going to be a 'but'."

Chie chuckled, though not really. _How do I explain this without freaking him out. 'If I go with you, we might get shot in our sleep!' Very comforting Satonaka._ "You've seen the plays they put on in Blackwater right?" _Plays? Am I serious?_

Kou looked confused. "Since when do you watch plays?"

 _Well Narukami had to kill a guy in a theater and I was forced to watch the stupid thing. Would've been more bearable if it had more action if you ask me..._ "Did you see the one about the-"

"Now you're the one stalling."

 _Damnit he's right._ Chie let her hands fall to her sides, one brushing past the holster. "I still have something to do." _Liar!_

Kou folded his arms, either he knew she was lying, or he was cold. _But then again he always stands like that,_ Chie thought. He closed his eyes like a cat comfortable enough to fall asleep around someone. "It's outlaw stuff. Isn't it?"

Chie couldn't lie to him anymore, physically because it might make her cry and mentally because her brain wouldn't let her. "I just don't want you getting involved with gang stuff," she began to explain, "If you moving out west will get you as far away from here as possible then I want you to go. Not because I don't love you, but I'm scared that if you stay something will happen to you. But I'm also scared that if you leave you won't love me anymore..." _Damn. Where did all THAT come from?_

Kou opened his eyes again and had a confused look on his face. "Weren't you the one who said the distance between us won't matter?"

She could feel all the emotions inside her explode. Was this what she truly felt? "We were seventeen! And I could visit you whenever I wanted, I was always less than a day away! But now you're leaving? I want you to leave but I don't at the same time." Chie unconsciously stuck her hands underneath her gun belt. "I... don't know a lot of people who aren't gun welding maniacs with thirst for dollar bills. So, when I found out you liked me and wanted to be with me, I knew I had to keep you as far away from that life as I could. You are the one person in my life who is still completely good. And when you asked to live with me a few years ago? I had to keep myself from losing it right then and there. I want to protect you. I want to protect everyone. You, the gang, Yukiko, my family. All of you. But I can't do that if you're still here Kou."

The sound of a heartbeat was so loud the girl thought she might do deaf. _Is that Kou or me?_ It was weird now that she said everything out loud. The last time Chie said anything similar to this was with Narukami a few years ago when they were on guard duty. And she told him that if she wasn't an outlaw she would be a lawman.

"But who will protect you?" Kou asked.

"I have the gang to back me up, don't worry." 

"But what if the gang gets in trouble? What if you get arrested and I'm not here to protect you? What then? I just come visit only to find out you've been hanged in Saint-Denis? Strawberry? Valentine?" Kou was raising his voice a bit, his smile faded.

 _Well I did almost get hanged once but I'm not about to let him have a point._ "That won't happen, I won't let it happen!"

"How can you be so sure? Chie you can be anyone you want to be, you have so much potential to do good in this world. I'm not saying you're throwing your life away here, with the gang. Damnit if anything I think sometimes you enjoy being with them more than me. I get it, they're your family and you want to protect them like they protected you. But the gang is wanted in at least two states, I know, I checked. And it will be the actual end of me if you die here out of stubbornness!"

 _How can you just check_ _that?_ They were silent again. Chie knew that he was right, the gang was wanted in two, technically three, states. She knew, for a while she knew, that things were going downhill. With the rookies causing some of their own government-related problems, to the gangs' leader getting sick. Even with Suou-sans older brother joining (or re-joining but she wasn't there the first time) things are different. The government is closing in on them, there isn't enough money, and everyone is cautiously waiting for the next big move.

Chie sat down back on the edge of the cliff, letting her legs dangle off the sides. She started feeling the material on her gun belt, the material old yet study. How long ago was it when the Investigation Team joined the gang? How longer was it when they first formed? Kou sat cross-legged next to her. And they sat in silence for a while, watching the horses graze underneath them and the river run past. This was their way of coping for both were clueless when it came to moving forward in their relationship.

"When I see you, hear your heartbeat, it makes me happy. Because I know you're still here and you didn't leave me. I'm not good when it comes to love, maybe not even ok... I love you so much Kou. I don't want you to be ashamed of me for doing the things I did because of my lifestyle. I wanted to be a person you could rely on and know I'll do the right thing. You're right though, if the gang stays here, if I stay here, we'll all die. I mean we're all gonna die one day obviously, some people never let you forget about it. But I don't want to die a source of entertainment or left to rot in a swamp. And god did I want to leave the gang for a while now... but who will keep everyone from doing some stupid shit if I'm not there to punch them straight?"

"Chie."

"I knew I can't be a lawman because I'm a girl, so I want to be a bounty hunter. Well, you knew that. I guess suddenly having everything I wanted as one easy option made me think I didn't deserve it. The things I did, the things I didn't do. The peoples fate I decided. Every battle was me deciding who lived and who died. Some people though... I think the lines have been blurred for them. They don't see the lawman or the O'Driscoll as people anymore, just a person to aim the gun at. I don't want to be like that."

"Chie?"

"I don't know. Maybe wanting to protect people has changed into me wanting to protect my family no matter what I felt. Kou I want to be with you so badly, you're the one person I got keeping me from turning into Yosuke or Adachi. I mean I have Yukiko too; she was always the first one to comfort me after a bank robbery gone wrong. But some days her attitude reminds me that even she's changed, she's still my best friend but she has no problem with taking peoples' stuff."

"Chie!"

"What?"

"You're mono- talking to yourself."

 _I guess I did_. "Sorry. I don't have someone to talk to about this stuff." _Well I would tell Narukami or Yukiko, but would they understand? They seem happy doing outlaw stuff._

His smile was back, a true one this time. "Thanks for telling me. I don't know how to help you but, I'm glad you told me. It means a lot."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Well I think you should still come with me, and I'm not just saying that because we're dating. This is the opportunity you've been looking for, no bounties on your head, no outlaw stuff. And you'll have me!"

She laughed a little, it wasn't a joke by any means but it was nice. But Chie's good mood quickly faded. "I don't want to be selfish again."

"It's okay to do what you want to do, to be selfish every once in a while." Kou explained.

"I guess you have a point..." _Yeah, Yukiko is fine without me. She has the others, and she can protect herself. It's still a shitty thought, leaving her. I should talk to her before I do anything,_ Chie thought. "Hey, when are you leaving?"

"Three weeks. I'm going by train so let me know before when you make up your mind." Kou stood up and extending a hand down to Chie.

She rolled her eyes and accepted his hand. "Such a gentleman."

"I try. Should we race back to Valentine? Loser buys the winner a drink."

Chie smirked. "Oh, you're gonna lose! You and Umisachihiko never get along."

The two walked back to their horses who were grazing on the grass. "We've been getting better!" As he said that Umisachihiko stepped forward and Kou (who was only halfway on the saddle) fell on his back.

"Maybe I should go easy on you, give you two a shot to prove yourselves. What do you think Tomoe?"

"No holding back! I got this!" Kou said confidently.

Finally, on his horse, the two rode out of the overlook and back onto the main road. "Ready, set-"

"YA!" Kou took off like a lightning bolt down the dirt path leaving Chie in the dust.

"Hey that's cheating! Let's go Tomoe!"

**Author's Note:**

> I never did Chie's romance route, so I looked up some videos online to get a gist of what her relationship with Kou might be like. And can someone tell me why Chie's Valentine's Day dialogue is so creepy? Like it's sweet but is also uncomfortable? Maybe that's just me, if someone told me they liked my smells and sounds I would be weirded out a little bit. But if that's how Chie expresses her emotions then good for her.
> 
> I may come back to edit this at a later date, I might want to change some things. This may have been OOC, makes sense since this took me almost a month to write. There might be a few spelling mistakes or inconsitencies, I stayed up way too late to finish this. Comments are always appreciated!


End file.
